For much of 2012, it appeared that Felipe Massa was, again, in his last year with Ferrari. A decidedly lacklustre start to the campaign saw him fail to score until Bahrain and just four times in the opening ten rounds as Fernando Alonso shouldered the burden for the Scuderia, but the Brazilian bounced back just as he has in recent seasons, with a strong finish eventually earning him another stay of execution at Maranello. From Hungary onwards, Massa was in the points at every race, returning to the podium for the first time in almost two years with second place in Japan and then taking an emotional third in front of his home crowd at Interlagos. From the depths of the drivers’ table, he rose to an eventual seventh overall, but will need to retain his second half form if he is to avoid a repeat of the task next season.